A method using granulated coal ash for disposal of the sludge carried by tsunami

Large amounts of sludge and debris accumulated on agricultural and residential areas after the Great East\ud Japan Earthquake. Since the sludge carried by the Tsunami has high contents of unstable-form organic matter ???UFOM???\ud (burned at 300??C), this sludge is considered to be the origin of malodorous gas generation that affects human activities.\ud Therefore, disposal of the sludge plays an important role in the reconstruction effort. Previously, it is obvious that\ud granulated coal ash (GCA) comprised of silica (44%), calcium oxide (21%) and aluminum oxide (13%) improves the\ud organic condition of sewage sludge. For example, the generation of malodorous gases, e.g. hydrogen sulfide and\ud ammonia, was greatly reduced after mixing GCA with the sewage sludge. In this study, we aim to propose a method\ud using GCA to disposal the sludge carried by Tsunami. For this purpose, changes in organic conditions and malodorous\ud gas generation of the sludge after mixing GCA are investigated based on laboratory experiments. In the laboratory\ud experiments, the sludge was mixed with GCA, and then was burned at 200??C to 600??C (intervals of 100??C) in 4 hours at\ud each temperature step. Furthermore, other experiments were conducted to measure amounts of gas generated from the\ud sludge in the absence and the presence of GCA. It was found that ignition behaviors of the sludge with and without\ud GCA were different, namely, the ignition loss at 300??C of the sludge mixing with GCA was lower than that of the sludge\ud without mixing GCA. This ensures that organic conditions (e.g. decreases in amounts of UFOM) of the sludge changes\ud after mixing GCA. Moreover, it was also found that malodorous gases did not generate from the sludge mixing with\ud GCA, indicating that GCA affects the digestion process of organic matter. It is expected that our proposed method is\ud also useful for the capitalization of dredged soil and the development of lowland

A method for investigation of sediment retention in sandy tidal flats

Recently, coastal environmental engineers have made attempts to understand the role of sediment (particulate organic matter adsorbed on fine soil particles, diameter range 1???100 ??m) in subsurface environment which is considered to be related to the biodiversity of estuaries. Since the retention amount of sediment is one of important factors in considering the biodiversity, understanding sediment retention is vital to good management of the estuarine environment. In this study, laboratory experiments were conducted to propose a model for investigating the sediment retention based on variations of water head in a sand bed. Field observations were also conducted to verify the validity of the proposed model. From laboratory experiments, variations of water head in the sand bed could be represented by our proposed model with a maximum relative error of 3%. As the proposed model takes the porosity and the hydraulic conductivity of the sand bed into account, sediment retention in the sand bed can be evaluated on the basis of variances in the porosity and the hydraulic conductivity when variations of water heads at the boundary and in the sand bed are known. A method was proposed to measure variations of river water head and water head in a tidal flat. Furthermore, sand material of the tidal flat was sampled in order to determine the porosity and the hydraulic conductivity of the tidal flat. Based on the observation results, the variation of water head in the tidal flat could be reproduced by the proposed model when the porosity and the hydraulic conductivity of the tidal flat were applied into the model. In other words, the porosity and the hydraulic conductivity of the tidal flat can be predicted by the proposed model when variations of river water head and water head in the tidal flat are measured, leading to the understanding of sediment retention in the tidal flat from temporal changes in the porosity and the hydraulic conductivity

Path Selection for Quantum Repeater Networks

Quantum networks will support long-distance quantum key distribution (QKD) and distributed quantum computation, and are an active area of both experimental and theoretical research. Here, we present an analysis of topologically complex networks of quantum repeaters composed of heterogeneous links. Quantum networks have fundamental behavioral differences from classical networks; the delicacy of quantum states makes a practical path selection algorithm imperative, but classical notions of resource utilization are not directly applicable, rendering known path selection mechanisms inadequate. To adapt Dijkstra's algorithm for quantum repeater networks that generate entangled Bell pairs, we quantify the key differences and define a link cost metric, seconds per Bell pair of a particular fidelity, where a single Bell pair is the resource consumed to perform one quantum teleportation. Simulations that include both the physical interactions and the extensive classical messaging confirm that Dijkstra's algorithm works well in a quantum context. Simulating about three hundred heterogeneous paths, comparing our path cost and the total work along the path gives a coefficient of determination of 0.88 or better.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Outcomes in newly diagnosed elderly glioblastoma patients after concomitant temozolomide administration and hypofractionated radiotherapy

This study aimed to analyze the treatment and outcomes of older glioblastoma patients. Forty-four patients older than 70 years of age were referred to the Paul Strauss Center for chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The median age was 75.5 years old (range: 70-84), and the patients included 18 females and 26 males. The median Karnofsky index (KI) was 70%. The Charlson indices varied from 4 to 6. All of the patients underwent surgery. O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) methylation status was determined in 25 patients. All of the patients received radiation therapy. Thirty-eight patients adhered to a hypofractionated radiation therapy schedule and six patients to a normofractionated schedule. Neoadjuvant, concomitant and adjuvant chemotherapy regimens were administered to 12, 35 and 20 patients, respectively. At the time of this analysis, 41 patients had died. The median time to relapse was 6.7 months. Twenty-nine patients relapsed, and 10 patients received chemotherapy upon relapse. The median overall survival (OS) was 7.2 months and the one- and two-year OS rates were 32% and 12%, respectively. In a multivariate analysis, only the Karnofsky index was a prognostic factor. Hypofractionated radiotherapy and chemotherapy with temozolomide are feasible and acceptably tolerated in older patients. However, relevant prognostic factors are needed to optimize treatment proposals

Mangrove forest resources and local communities (Koh Kong Province, Cambodia)

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